


Bones and Bruises and Contingency in its Strangest Form

by gudlyfe2007



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 24 hour corner stores, AU, Abuse, Akaashi shares my same weird ass hobby, Alternate Universe, Autism, Blood and Gore, Coping, Drug Dealing, Injury, Konoha is the Fukurodani vice in this, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Taxidermy, autistic Akaashi, taxidermist Akaashi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-21 03:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11935395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gudlyfe2007/pseuds/gudlyfe2007
Summary: Akaashi is a mysterious teenage boy who wanders the neighborhood with a plastic bag and music blaring from his headphones every day.Kuroo and his friends, Bokuto and Kenma, are based at a volleyball training camp in a small town where they notice small but unsettling events - bones being left on Kuroo's pillow, unexplained mud splatters in the locker rooms, Kenma's games being reset every night, and the disappearance of the strange Akaashi Keiji, neighborhood oddball and the object of Kuroo's foolish crush.Contingency binds their paths in the most peculiar way.-aka my coping fic lmao :o)





	1. The Taxidermy Kid

**Author's Note:**

> tw mentions of animal death, descriptions of blood and gore
> 
> i have no idea where this fic is going it was impulse written in the computer lab on campus !!! lmao

"Who's the boy with the plastic bag that always wonders the neighborhood?"

"I don't know but his fucking music sure makes a racket. We have another day of working hard at training camp and I wish he'd keep it down until after everyone wakes up." 

"Yeah. Literally no one is awake at 4 am, aka the crack-of-satan's-ass-o'clock." 

"He sure is weird. What do you think he carries that plastic bag around for?" 

"I'm not sure, but I overheard one of the locals say that he kills cats and practices devil worships." 

"With that cute face? No way," Nekoma's captain murmured, stretching as he continued to watch the teenager - a tallish boy about his age, maybe a year or two younger - saunter out of site, ever present plastic bag gripped in a pale, bony hand. 

"Pale and bony is your type?" one of his teammates raised an eyebrow. Kuroo laughed but there was little to no humor in it. The captain was silent for a long moment as the rest of his team began to stir, the rise of the sun beckoning Nekoma to wakefulness, eager to direct them to a new day of hard work and dedicated training. Kuroo let out one more soft chuckle, and without replying followed a few peers to the showers. 

\--

Lunch was being held outside on account of the nice weather, which included a pleasant breeze that helped dry the sweat off the teenagers, a reward for their intense workout. 

And that was when Kuroo saw him again. Bokuto, a rival captain but also a close friend of Kuroo's, was talking with his mouth full and spraying crumbs everywhere when the olive-haired boy appeared out of the woods a distance from the outside lunch. Kuroo leaned around his stocky friend to catch a glimpse of him, but he never looked back in his direction. Once again, he was holding his trademark plastic bag, the dirty white edges rippling at his side in the wind. 

"Whatcha lookin' at Kuroo?" Bokuto asked. He leaned so he was blocking the captain's view once again, but instead of being irritated Kuroo just shrugged and grinned, covering up his foolish intrigue at this stranger. 

"You seen that kid that walks around the neighborhood all the time with the plastic bag? He just stepped out of the woods. Wonder what he was doing in there." 

Bokuto stopped chewing and turned around to face the woods in question. "Huh. I've seen him around before too. Konoha said he talked to him a couple days ago when he wandered near the outside beach volleyball nets." He paused. Waggling his eyebrows, Bokuto added, "but I gotta admit, even with how pale and bony he is the kid's got a pretty face." 

\--

"Hey buddy. Whatcha up to?" Kuroo said casually as he approached Fukurodani's vice captain. Konoha unintentionally narrowed his eyes, face opposite of his calm nature. He never did quite get that smiling thing right, but for some reason people really seemed to enjoy his sly-looking smirks. He personally thinks they make him unique. 

"Chillin'. Reading. Trying to make myself tired so I can sleep for once in the past three days. What are you up to, Nekoma's captain?" 

Kuroo scoffed at lack of use of his name. Regardless he continued. "I wanna ask you about that kid that walks around with a plastic bag everyday. Bokuto said you talked to him the other day." 

Konoha's face paled. "What-what about him?" 

"What's his name? What's he like? What's his plastic bag for?" 

"His name is Akaashi, and he's weird as fuck. He carries dead animals around in his plastic bags." Konoha suddered, and Kuroo was taken aback, genuinely shocked. 

"He has /what/ in his plastic bags?" 

"Dead animals. I'm serious. I looked into one when he started to walk away and there was half of a dead squirrel in there." The Fukurodoni player paused in thought. "But I don't think he killed it. It looked like it had been ran over by a bike or small vehicle. Maybe a moped. Still, it was...fucking weird." 

"Huh," was all Kuroo said, rubbing his chin. "Thanks, Konoha-kun. I'll see you around, okay?" 

"Sure." 

\--

Now, most people would perhaps be a little shaken after finding out the object of their distant affections was carrying around a plastic bag full of roadkill. 

But Kuroo Tetsurou was not most people. 

"It's Saturday. It's fucking Saturday you bitch. I'm supposed to be sleeping in, what do you want Kuroo?" Kenma hissed as the captain roused him from his sleep. Kuroo smirked, amused at his long-time friend's ever present early morning chronic case of the grumps. 

"I need you to come with me to the 24-hour corner store. It's important." 

"Go get Bokuto to go with you." 

"Hm." Kuroo considered this for a moment. "You're right, Bokuto should come too." Kenma groaned and half-heartedly threw his pillow into Kuroo's face. 

"What do you mean 'too?' Why can't he go with you /instead/ of me?" 

"I need a squad, man. I need protection." 

"From what?" 

/From my crush, who is a mysterious young man that walks around the neighborhood with a bag of dead squirrel parts,/ Kuroo thought. But honestly, the captain wasn't afraid of what - what was his name? Akaashi? - may pose as a threat physically, but more so what kind of threat he could be to his confidence. That is, the emotional damage of rejection. He thought for a moment of explaining this to Kenma, and ultimately decided if anyone was going to judge him about it, it would definitely be Kenma, who would also ultimately be the only one to disregard these judgements and let himself be dragged along on his adventure nonetheless. 

\--

This is how, at 5 am, Kenma found himself standing behind Kuroo in a short line for instant corner store coffee, already brewed and ready to consume. Once he received his drink and paid for it, Kenma joined his two friends on the bench outside the corner store. 

"Why, of all places are we at a corner store waiting for him?" he asked. 

"I talked to Konoha again yesterday about where he saw Akaashi and he said it was at this store really early in the morning while he picking up some painkillers for his back. He said he saw him in here buying in a toothbrush." He had also said that Akaashi was probably a gross hobo who didn't brush his teeth and maybe sold dead animals to witches to finally get enough money for a toothbrush, but Kuroo didn't want to relive hearing that sentence about his mysterious little crush. 

"You're going to be waiting a while," someone said, words slightly muffled by the tinkling of the store bell attached to the door. 

"Huh?" 

"I said you're going to be waiting awhile. I heard you were talking about Akaashi, the taxidermy kid." A tall man with chestnut hair, rosy cheeks, and sharp brown eyes that were caught in a somewhat daunting place between alluring and charming was leaning up against the cinder block wall of the corner store. He side eyed the trio as he took a sip from his Redbull. "You know? Akaashi?" He said this slowly when no one responded, as if he were talking to the biggest morons in Japan. "The taxidermy kid?" 

Bokuto looked over at Kuroo. "Well that explains why he carries a plastic bag full of dead things." 

"What the fuck? Why are we waiting for some early bird asshole at the fuck dawn of Lucifer's ballsack who collects dead animals?" Kenma grumbled. 

"I dunno, why are you?" the brunette said after taking another swig of his drink. 

"Me and Kuroo think he's cute and want to talk to him," Bokuto said innocently. Kuroo smiled in agreement. Kenma pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Goddamn. There's no reason for me to be here. I could have been sleeping." 

"So why won't Akaashi be here this morning?" Bokuto asked, circling the conversation back to the snobby stranger with his potential knowledge of this vexing Akaashi. 

"It's Saturday. Akaashi doesn't come to the store until the evening, at around 7 pm. Sundays he doesn't come at all. But every day during the week he's hear at 4:30 am, like fucking clockwork." 

"At the very least right now if I were awake I could have been playing Neko Atsume. Or KH Unchained. Or, for fuck's sake, Tetris if my fucking phone wasn't charged." Kenma's head fell into his hands. "But it's not. Because I'm an idiot. An idiot who's about to get tangled up in some kind of sacrificial satanic mess," Kenma continued softly.

"You're here for emotional support," Bokuto reminded. "Kuroo would be hurt if he got rejected by Akaashi and he needs his best friends to be there." 

"I won't get rejected," Kuroo muttered. The momentarily forgotten stranger scoffed. 

"With a face and body like that? No way any sane person would reject you." He winked. "But with Akaashi? If you want to go after him you're going to need all the emotional support you can get." He sighed. "That kid is a real bitch." 

Kuroo opened his mouth to inquire further but was cute off by the X-Files theme blaring from the brunette's pocket. "Hey Suga," he answered cheekily. "Did you get my text about covering my shift tonight? I pulled a fucking all nighter taking care of Tula and my knee is killing me, please babe I can't do any more work." There was crash and yelling on the other end of the phone, then a voice saying, "no way. Iwaizumi's going to kill you if he finds out you've got me covering your last three Saturday shifts. And I'm not your 'babe,' Oikawa." 

"Hmph." Oikawa sighed in frustration and sauntered away as his phone conversation continued. 

Kuroo turned back to his friend. "Well, now what do we do until 6 o'clock? We're already up." 

"Go back to sleep," Kenma said without hesitation. 

Bokuto opened his mouth to comment, but was cut off by a body crashing through the door of the store. The three of them startled in surprise, hopping up and following a thin trail of blood inside. 

\--

"Percocet," Akaashi whispered to the cashier, not so much because he was trying to keep cover but more so because of the immense amount of pain he was in. "Please." 

"Not while I'm on shift, Akaashi," the blond said. "But meet behind the store at 10 and I'll hook you up." 

"Need it now. Pain." 

"No." 

"Please, Tsukki. I'm in so much pain," Akaashi croaked. Tsukki's eyes shifted through the store, scanning the aisles for any loiterers. 

"Come behind the counter. You can rest here for a while." 

\--

"Come behind the counter. You can rest here for a while," is the first thing Kuroo heard when the trio stepped back into the store. His eyes grew wide as his sight fell onto a hunched over figure in a bloodstained hoodie. When the teenager glanced out of the side of his eyes at Kuroo the captain could see his cheek and right eye were marred with black and blue. Blood was caked around his mouth, but despite the incredible pain he must be in his green eyes were dry. 

"What did they do to you today? What is Yukito?" the cashier whispered as he gently helped Akaashi onto a chair behind the counter. 

"Oh shit, your tooth!" Bokuto tactlessly cried, noticing a bloody tooth lying on the ground close to the register. "Dude are you alright? What happened?!" 

The blonde worker glared over his shoulder at the athletes. "Pick out something to buy or get out. Now." He turned back to Akaashi and offered him a wad of paper towels to stick in his mouth to stop the bleeding from the hole his tooth once was. 

"Hey," Kuroo started gently. This is not how he picture his and Akaashi's first meeting. This was not going according to his plan. "Hey, what happened to your mouth? Maybe I can help, I took a college level med class this year, so there might be something I can do-" 

"Get. Out." The cashier was dead serious. Akaashi studied Kuroo up and down and shrank back into the wall behind the counter. Kuroo's heart sunk, not because he was disappointed about this disaster of an introduction but because it pained his so fucking much to see another human being in this state. 

"Listen, he's trying to help. Kuroo is a science-y guy, and he's good with medicine and shit because he's a chemistry nerd too. Just give him a chance to check you out, Akaashi," Bokuto interjected. 

"Get out or I'll calling the fucking police." 

"Come one," Kenma said from behind them, grabbing there sleeves. "Let's go." 

\--

"We can come back later and ask that guy how Akaashi is doing," Kenma said gently, pulling the shellshocked Bokuto and distressed Kuroo away from the corner store. "I'll come back with both of you to make sure everyone is okay." Kenma could be kind and generous when it counted, especially for his friend. 

"Yeah. Sure," Bokuto said absently. Kuroo nodded in agreement. 

And the three of them went off to follow in the mainstream relaxation everyone else participated in on their day off. 

Kuroo joined, but barely with half a heart. His mind was still on Akaashi.


	2. Implications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for self harm and oikawa
> 
> a little more context for the setting and conflict of this fic lmao

"Holy shit, what the fuck, what the fuck?" Konoha exclaimed as he looked up to find a dark haired teenager staring in through the window of the facility's lounge, pale, bony hands cupped around forest green eyes. He jumped up and stumbled backwards, Gatorade tumbling to the floor in an electric blue mess. 

"What is it?" his captain from down the hall cried as he sprinted into the room. Akaashi was peering in through the window out of a heavily bruised face and a cheek swollen with cotton stuffed inside, presumably to stop the bleeding of his missing tooth. "Akaashi!" Bokuto's face lit up. "I'll go get Kuroo!" And with that, Bokuto ran off to find his fellow captain. 

Konoha clutched his shirt over his racing heart and practically flew away from the window and down the hall. 

\--

Akaashi could read lips, and he was good at it. He didn't miss the way Bokuto's chapped, pink lips formed the name "Kuroo," a name he had overheard and connected with the black haired man who had offered to help him that morning. He continued to stand outside the window of the gym's lounge, watching carefully as a lanky athlete bolted away after the stockier one went to get his friend. 

He couldn't pin point what exactly was going through his mind, hazy with the one of the strongest painkillers on the market, or why he had showed up at the athletic facility where the two volleyball teams were holding their training camp. 

Instinct had drawn him here. And Akaashi always listened to his instinct, although sometimes, like now, he had no fucking idea what it was trying to tell him. Maybe it wasn't so much instinct as it was the Percocet high urging him to do weird things. He was hot, and felt light headed yet here he was waiting for the cat-like volleyball player from this morning to make an appearance. 

He didn't have to wait much longer - soon Kuroo appeared next to Bokuto in the lounge, eyes wide in shock as they fell upon him. Akaashi waved slightly in greeting. Moments later the two teenagers bolted down the hall and outside the gym, circling around the building to get to him. 

Taken off guard by the sudden movements, Akaashi fell backwards and did his best to crawl away after rolling on his stomach. He struggled and let out a strangled cry when he felt a large hand on his back and spun around, falling back onto his back.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Kuroo's eyes were soft, laced with concerned and sincerity. 

/This was a mistake/, Akaashi thought. His mind was absolutely unable to switch off of panic mode. He cried out again, tears in his eyes and blood from his missing tooth gurgled out the side of his mouth. 

"Listen, kiddo, it's okay. It's okay, just calm down...take some deep breaths, neither of us are going to hurt you," the black haired captain continued. Bokuto nodded sincerely in the background. Akaashi's mind was still in a fog, but he swung his spindly hand at Kuroo, who easily caught his fist and lowered it with carefulness. 

"C'mon...deep breath, my guy. Just in and out...that's it." Kuroo was ignorant to it, but the reason Akaashi outwardly appeared to be calming down was due to fatigue. Bokuto crouched down next to them and slowly helped him sit up.

"What happened to you?" he asked, ever tactless. 

Kuroo squinted at him. "Maybe we should start with introduction. I'm Kuroo Tetsurou, and this is Bokuto Koutaru. We play volleyball on separate teams, but both of our teams are at a training camp together here. We know you're Akaashi, because one of Bo's teammates said he talked to you." 

Akaashi nodded slowly, recalling his run in with the lanky brunet. 

"That doesn't seem too important right now, though. Let's get you inside and cleaned up," he continued. Akaashi let himself be hoisted up and positioned on Bokuto's back as the two of them helped him inside. 

\--

"Akaashi hasn't stopped by yet, if that's who you're looking for," Oikawa drawled from behind the corner store counter. Tsukki grunted in acknowledgement before roaming the aisles for snacks. "I heard he's not at his house either." 

"Why do you say that's his house? It's not, it's the Kobayashi Manor, he just lives there." 

"He just /suffers/ there," Oikawa muttered back apathetically before returned to his magazine. Tsukki practically slammed his groceries on the counter in irritation. Oikawa smirked. "What's with the long sleeves on a summer day?" he asked, feigning innocence. 

"What kind of answer do you want from me? You already know what my issue is you fucking snoop," the blond growled. 

"Hey, we all go through our own shit and have our own ways to cope. Your is cutting, and mine is looking down on people who cut. Like you. So I can at least say, 'hey, at least that's not me.'" Oikawa shrugged as he bagged Tsukki's snacks. The taller snarled at him before walking briskly out the door. 

"Was he there?" queried another young man waiting outside the shop. Freckles spattered his sun kissed skin like a work of abstract art, and his eyes graced whoever he looked upon with warmth and sweetness. 

"No," Tsukki growled. "But fuckin' Oikawa was." 

\--

Yamaguchi sighed. He knew what a run in with Oikawa meant for his friend's attitude. "I'm sorry Tsukki. Don't let him get to you though, he's no better off than the rest of us in this shitty town." 

"No kidding," he replied with spite. A brief silence overtook the duo as they walked. 

"So we tried the manor, we tried the shrine, and we tried the corner store. Where else would he be?" Yamaguchi pondered. 

"I have no fucking idea. But he better be back at the shrine by sundown so I can take him home, or he'll get another beating from Yukito. Plus, he's still pretty fucked up from this morning. I heard he did something that pissed him off again and saw that he got some good punches. His front tooth was knocked out."

"Do you think Kobayashi-san will be able to make him a new one?" 

"Without a doubt. It'll probably hurt to grow back in though." 

"I wonder what he did to get roughed up so bad..." 

"I'm entirely sure but..." Tsukki stopped to sit down on a nearby bench and heaved a sigh. 

"But what?" 

"Nothing. I'm just angry." 

"At who?" 

"At Kobayashi for bringing back something that was supposed to be long gone. She's getting too used to playing god. At Yukito for treating this Akaashi like he's a fucking toy. He's playing god, too, with the way he controls him." Yamaguchi held his breath and reached out to his friend, holding his hand tightly as he choked back a weak dry heave. "This is stupid. It's stupid. Kobayashi and her family should just die." 

"Not Onpu, though," Yamaguchi said quietly. 

"I don't care what happens to that kid. She'll probably grow up to be just like her brother with the things she's witnessed already." Tsukki grunted and rose from his spot on the bench, continuing on to their destination. 

\--

"I had a key," came Akaashi's quiet voice from the shadows the moment he sensed Tsukki and Yamaguchi return. "Your guys's house is the only one I know that has medical stuff. They didn't have sutures at the athletics facility." 

Without missing a beat, Tsukki closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in distress. "Why do you need sutures Akaashi." 

"He had a cut on his arm that needed tending to," Kuroo said from the chair in the kitchen. Akaashi had risen at the sound of the door and moved to the shadows where he waited for Tsukki and Yamaguchi. 

"What was the cut from Akaashi?" the blond continued to inquire. 

"Kiki-chan didn't like that I called him Yukito this morning." 

"Jesus - I already know that Akaashi. But what's the cut on your arm from? Is that from this morning too? Why didn't you fucking tell me about that? And you don't have to call that bastard 'Kiki-chan' when he's not around." 

"He's always around," Yamaguchi murmured, side eyeing the old photo placed in a shrine below the stair case. 

"Forgot about it," Akashi shrugged, answering Tsukki's question. 

"Whatever. Let me see it," he said, gingerly taking Akaashis arm and inspecting the sloppy stitches. "What the fuck? Who did this shit job?" 

"Me," Kuroo said from the kitchen, leaning his head out into the dark hallway. "What's up. I'm Kuroo." 

"Hey," Bokuto echoed. 

Tsukki eyed both of them up and down. "Jesus Christ. Jesus fucking Christ," he cursed under his breath. "Come on, let's give you some proper care." 

"What? Those sutures are awesome. I've taken med classes before," Kuroo whined. 

"I don't fucking know you. And Akaashi's not a doll for you to operate on." Tsukki turned to the patient in question. "Let's head to the bathroom to get this done. And you two-" he gestured at Bokuto and Kuroo "-I don't know who you are or why you're in my house but get out. And don't fucking talk to Akaashi anymore." With that Tsukki marched himself and Akaashi away to the bathroom. 

\--

Yamaguchi was left standing awkwardly in front of the two strangers. He laughed nervously and scratched his neck. "Damn, sometimes people get into some weird shit while doped up on Percocet. Anyway...don't mind Tsukki. He's irritated because of...uh, reasons. And for helping Akaashi...that was nice of you guys, considered it must've been a weird situation for everyone involved." The brunette slipped off his shoes, walked into the kitchen and without missing a beat started a pot of tea. 

"Isn't it like...weird that there's two strangers sitting in your friend's house? One of them who just gave your other friend (evidently) sloppy ass sutures?" Bokuto asked. 

"Eheh...I've had weirder things happen to me. It's actually more weird that your training camp (I've seen you guys running laps by that old facility) is here at all. Our town is usually pretty closed off to the public, but I guess there's always time to switch things up. Would you like green tea or mango black tea?" 

"Tea? You're making us tea after your cranky friend just shouted at us to get our of your house?" Kuroo was incredulous. 

"Why not. Like I said, weirder things have happened in my life." Yamaguchi sighed. "Besides, Tsukki is cranky for a pretty good reason. You shouldn't get close to Akaashi Keiji." 

"Keiji..." Kuroo mused. "What a cute name. I think it fits him." 

"Why shouldn't we be friends with Akaashi?" Bokuto asked. 

Yamaguchi jerked his head to the shrine underneath the staircase back out in the hall. "You noticed that shrine?" He lowered his voice. "That's Tuskki's brother, and also the last person who tried to interfere in an Akaashi's life." 

Bokuto and Kuroo looked at each other uneasily, Kuroo about to speak when he was cut off by a loud yelp from the freckled teenager. "Ah, shit, my elbow hit the burner," he swore. A large red spot blossom on Yamaguchi's left elbow. 

"Oh man, are you okay? Do you need help?" Bokuto asked. Yamaguchi chuckled and shook his head. 

"It's no biggie, I'll just run it under some cold water and we can call it good. Really, no biggie." 

\--

Kuroo was silent, still intent on Yamaguchi's previous words. "An" Akaashi's life? Surely that was just a mouth typo, otherwise Yamaguchi was making it sound like there was more than one Akaashi. That was ridiculous.

It could have just been his imagination but he swore that when Yamaguchi leaned over to him to pour the tea - he had decided black tea for them - the freckled teenager muttered "you're not safe as long as you chase after Keiji, Kuroo. Don't make Akiteru's mistakes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> read it and liked it? drop a comment or kudos! have any suggestions for where you want to see this go? np! write 'em to me and i'll see what i can do!!


	3. Inconsistency in Interests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shady vibes, instability, and a lowkey conflict of everyone's morals. I hope that made sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow thank you everyone for all the kudos and comments on this fic!! I appreciate them all - there will definitely be more of this fic to come my dudes c: here we have a little taste of the setting of Akaashi's residency, as well as some more light shed on the characters Oikawa Tula and Kobayashi Onpu. I don't normally like putting OCs into fics, but I have my own personal reasons for doing that this time, hope yall don't mind. 
> 
> enjoy!

Tsukki watched Akaashi stumble down the gravelly trail leading up to the Kobayashi Manor with blank eyes. He watched carefully as he unlocked the door, orange light from the foyer spilling out into the evening like a gaping mouth searching to swallow the dark. He continued to watch as Akaashi looked over his shoulder, then left, then right, then over his shoulder once more before finally stepping into the mansion and closing the door behind him. The blond sighed through his nose and rubbed his temples. 

His friend was in tune enough with Tsukki's stress levels and what they meant that he didn't even have to utter the words "come on, let's go home," before Yamaguchi was taking his hand and leading him back to their shared more-of-a-over-glorified-shed-than-a-house abode.

"We haven't had dinner yet," Yamaguchi mumbled, trying to think of a way to take Tsukki's mind off its troubles. "How about I cook some ramen and you can lie down while I get some medication? It looks like you have a migraine coming on." 

Tsukki sighed again, nodding in passive agreement as they finally arrived at their place. Yamaguchi unlocked the door for him, quietly ushering a new sense of peace and comfort into the place as he stepped in before Tsukki. On his way to his room, Tsukki stopped in front of the shrine underneath the staircase. He squinted at the blond in the photo, smiling so wide his eyes scrunched up and his teeth shown. One of his front ones was chipped. Tsukki remember how Akaashi had mentioned that Yukito has punched him this morning, full-on knocking out a tooth and snarled at the memory of Akiteru coming home with a bloody nose and a near-lifeless Akaashi hanging from his arm. Fuckin' Kobayashi kids. 

The first few times of interference his brother had come out with things like the chipped tooth in the photo - little, little things. A broken finger nail. A scratch on his neck. A patch of hair missing behind his ear from a brief fist fight. 

But little things had soon turned into big things - a broken finger, then hand, then arm. Scratches turned into gashes. Missing hair turned into missing teeth. And missing teeth turned into...well...

Tsukki slapped his cheeks, hard, making his skull ring with splitting pain. But it was splitting pain enough to draw him away from his dissociation. Teeth. Akaashi had lost a tooth at the hands of Yukito today. Tsukki wondered whose tooth Kobayashi-san was going to replace it with, or if she had found some way to grow her bones completely from scratch. He entertained a fleeting thought that he might be able to see part of his brother sometime in the near future - even if it was mere a tooth of him. 

This was why he stood next to this Akaashi. It was the closest and only vessel he could get to seeing Akiteru again - and who knows, perhaps in time it'll be an Akiteru sporting one of Akaashi's teeth if Tsukki could just get close enough to Kobayashi-san's work. If he could just get close enough to kick her off the pedestal she occupied, one step below God. 

Of course, Akiteru would never be losing teeth in the first place. He would be once again surrounded by people who loved him and cherished him. 

Unlike this Akaashi - or any Akaashi, really. Besides the first. 

/That's why you can't be playing God, Kei, you fucking idiot./ Tsukki squinted harder at the photo of his brother as he lit a stick of incense. /Fuck. Stop thinking these things again. If I brought back Onii-san I'd be no better than Kobayashi and her stupid kids. What's done is done./ 

\--

"Throw me in the landfill/don't think about the consequences./Throw me in the dirt pit/don't think about the choices that you make./Leave me in the rain/wait until my clothes cling to my skin/wipe away my tearstains/I thought you said you didn't feel pain." 

The record picked up right where it left off with Akaashi's music. This was a fairly new disc, one that Tsukki had loaned him last week. It was burned with a wide variety of artists this time - Die Prinzen, a German pop band, some songs from Hong Kong's top twenty list, part of the new Baby Metal album, and an American band called Daughter whose music had a soft ebb and flow to it, a sort of sound that made the listener feel happy in a sad kind of way, and sad in a happy kind of way. Akaashi couldn't quite describe it, but he had been listening to their song "Landfill" nonstop.

His fingers wandered to the bloody, fleshy spot in his mouth where his tooth had been knocked out. It hurt like hell, but no tears came to the boy's eyes. He pushed hard on the gap under his gums. Blood oozed onto his fingers and rolled down his forearm like the first drop of rain down a car window. 

Akaashi thought of Kuroo and Bokuto from earlier today. It was kind of them to reach out to him and help - Akaashi really didn't have any friends besides Tsukki and Yamaguchi. Sometimes people around town acted like they knew him although he could've sworn he'd never spoken to them in his life. However, he found it fairly easy to nod and agree with everything an old couple or the like would say about the community barbecue he attended last year to sponsor the local cat shelter, or even Oikawa's nephew asking him if he remembered incredibly specific jokes they shared from bonfires he never recalled going to. 

His mind wandered back to Kuroo and Bokuto once again as he passed by the hallway outside his room. The house was quiet, he noticed - Kiki-chan was probably still at one of his night classes and Kobayashi-san was most likely away at her lab. Onpu and Tula might be wandering around the manor at this hour though. That didn't bother him too much - perhaps he could enlist one of the girls' help. 

"Onpu-chan?" he called, stepping out onto the plush red carpet. There was no sound from her room acroos the hall. If she wasn't there, she would probably be in the home theater, watching movies with Tula, so that's where Akaashi headed. 

\--

"Onpu-chan?" Akaashi knocked on the door of the theatre before pushing it open gently, door creaking muffled by the funky theme song of a brightly colored cartoon playing across the screen. "Is Tula-san here as well? I may need your help with something." 

Tula looked up from her place on the floor with Onpu in front of all the theatre chairs. "Ah, Akaashi-kun. What is it?" She smiled, dimples showing. Onpu was resting in her lap, out like a lamp. A toy bird was still clutched in one of her hands and building blocks were spread out around both of them. Tula appeared to have been dissociating at the screen for some time before Akaashi woke her out of her trance. 

"Where is Kiki-chan and Kobayashi-san? If they aren't home, I - uh, I need to maybe ask your help with something." 

"Yukito-kun is at his night class and Kobayashi-san is in her lab on the other side of town. What is it, sweetie?" 

"That's what I thought. I knew that you'd know for sure though, so thank you Tula-san." Akaashi cleared his throat before turning down the volume of the cartoon. He left it on, as it was the only light in the room that illuminated Tula's tall, reedy frame and Onpu's messy ebony locks. "I need help with a gift." 

"A gift? For Yukito-kun I bet? Oh, he'll like that a lot! It'll definitely make up for this morning." 

"No, it's...not for him. It's for two new people I met today. They're boys from the training camp - Kuroo Tetsurou and Bokuto Koutaro. They...helped me when they saw I was injured." Tula frowned and opened her mouth to protest this foolish decision of Akaashi's, but he cut her off. "I know this is a bad idea. But something wouldn't sit right with me if they didn't know that I was very grateful for their help." 

Tula considered his words for a long moment, carding her fingers through Onpu's hair. After a full minute went by, Akaashi was afraid that she had lost touch with reality in lieu of dissociation and her own psychosis-crafted world, but Tula finally spoke up after eternity. 

"Ah, Akaashi-kun. What is it?" she looked back up at him as if seeing him for the first time since he entered the room. Akaashi sighed softly and willed himself to be patient. Perhaps he could use her memory gaps to his advantage. 

"I...I want to find a gift for Kiki-chan. What do you think he would like?" 

Tula's face lit up at this. "Oh, coming from you, I'm sure anything would make him happy, Akaashi-kun! But hm...let's see. Why not make it personal? Didn't you mention the other day that you found a fully intact skull in the woods? Those are ones that you really value right? Maybe you could gift it to him after bleaching it and...hm, maybe add some personality to it? Like glitter?" 

Akaashi paused for a moment. Would Kuroo and Bokuto really get the same idea as Kiki-chan or Tula or even Tsukki would get by him presenting them an animal skull? 

"You're having trouble deciding what skull to give him, aren't you?" Tula said, bringing him out of his thoughts. 

"Um...a-a little..." 

"I think the new cat one would be perfect." 

Akaashi felt his heart sink a little. Perhaps a decorated cat skull would make a really, really cool gift, but intact cat skulls were hard to find. He only had two - it's not like a cat gets run over in town /every/ day. 

But technically this was for Kuroo and Bokuto, not Kiki-chan. So maybe something like a glittery cat skull would do the trick at conveying "thank you" like nothing else. Akaashi smiled and nodded to himself. "Good idea." 

Onpu began to stir in Tula's lap, rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up. "Keiji-kun? What time is it? Do you want to finish this episode with me and Tula-san?" she murmured. 

"No, I'm not going to watch an episode with you tonight, Onpu. Maybe tomorrow if your onii-chan has another night class. But right now I've got to work on a project - it involves glitter and bones. Do you want to help?" Akaashi said. Onpu nodded sleepily before trudging over to Akaashi and hugging him around the waist. 

"Ye. Let's go make things pretty with glitter." 

"Ah, Akaashi-kun, what is it?" Tula stood up and stretched, then turned to Akaashi as if seeing him for the first time that night. Akaashi faltered in his response. Sometimes Tula's mental incoherence could throw him off guard if he wasn't prepared for it, but he recovered quickly. 

"Onpu-chan and I are going to make a project. And - it's pretty late out. You should probably call your brother to take you home." /It's about that time of night where the babysitter becomes the babysat/, Akaashi added internally, sighing.

Tula nodded, smiling softly. "If you think you've got everything under control for the rest of the night, then sure. Yukito-kun is at his night class and Kobayashi-san is at her lab across town." 

Akaashi smiled tightly. "Right. We'll be okay until they come back later, but you seem tired. Go call Oikawa then you can help us make the project until he comes." 

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! Want more? drop a kudos or comment and tell me what you liked/didn't like/want to see! and again, thank you for reading, you guys keeps me going!!

**Author's Note:**

> lemme know if you want more or where you think this should go! thnx for readying, all kudos and comments are appreciate


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